5513 meters-first Sub restoration: before-and-after

[Dan S]

I picked this up locally over the summer and it needed some TLC. Just for fun, I decided to do a bit of restoration on it, including case and bracelet refinish, new crystal, and movement service. I thought people might appreciate seeing some representative before and after photos in case they considering this type of work.

Edit: Actually, for full transparency, it's not the same bracelet in the before and after shots. I did have the original C&I bracelet restored, but I put it on my 1675, and put a 7206 on the 5513. :-)

Before:




After:

[drockadam]

Gorgeous Sub! Great job on the restoration. To many years on the wrist

[Filipão]

Outstanding @Dan S! Superior!

Is that a Long5 or a MKIII insert?

[SunTzu]

Beautiful piece! Nice work to maintain the integrity while cleaning it up. I have the same one. It was my grandfather’s.


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[stmoore]

Originally Posted by Filipão

Outstanding @Dan S! Superior!

Is that a Long5 or a MKIII insert?

Long 5 mk2

[Dan S]

It's long-5, I believe. Let me try to post a photo from a better angle. It's a 1.5m serial with a VI. 66 caseback.

[Rebel]

Most nice.

[TimeLord2]

Really looks great Dan! The chamfers look quite sharp and well executed. So, a full case refinish not just a little polish? And where if I may ask?

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by TimeLord2

Really looks great Dan! The chamfers look quite sharp and well executed. So, a full case refinish not just a little polish? And where if I may ask?

Case at LAWW, bracelet at Rolliworks. Truedome D19 crystal. Serviced by my watchmaker locally. The movement was in pretty good shape, only needed one part replaced in the auto-winding mechanism.

[narembeen]

Wow! Now thats a nice watch!

[Filipão]

Thank you @Dan S.

Perfect in any respect! Congrats.

Did LAWW perform any laser welding on the 7 o'clock lug? Fantastic job

[stmoore]

Originally Posted by Filipão

Thank you @Dan S.

Perfect in any respect! Congrats.

Did LAWW perform any laser welding on the 7 o'clock lug? Fantastic job

The width is good. Should not of needed it. That spring bar was either wrong, shot, or the inside of the lug was hogged out.

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by Filipão

Thank you @Dan S.

Perfect in any respect! Congrats.

Did LAWW perform any laser welding on the 7 o'clock lug? Fantastic job

Many thanks, Filipao. My guess is that they did some laser welding to the lug holes (to address minor cratering), and perhaps in the chamfer area, but nothing major to the overall width of the lugs, since the lugs were reasonably thick before restoration.

[Filipão]

Thank you for sharing it all!

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by Filipão

Thank you for sharing it all!

YW. I don't mind sharing, and I'm sure some people are curious.

[Alex The Watch Guy]

Looks gorgeous, Dan. Wear it in good health.

[henrylee]

Very nice what a beauty

[jmcamacho007]

Nice little project.

[rootbeer7]

Beautiful. Proving polishing is not the devil’s work when done properly by experts.

[zapokee]

Absolutely dreadful.

JK That's a lovely MF dial. The beautiful detailing really makes the case pop. As per rootbeer7, there's nothing wrong with a nice polish if it's done right. Very well done

I rather enjoy a scratched-up crystal, though I appreciate that tastes differ.

[Yaz]

Outstanding !
Congrats and what a beauty !



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[Dan S]

Originally Posted by zapokee

Absolutely dreadful.

JK That's a lovely MF dial. The beautiful detailing really makes the case pop. As per rootbeer7, there's nothing wrong with a nice polish if it's done right. Very well done

I rather enjoy a scratched-up crystal, though I appreciate that tastes differ.

Thanks @zapokee. If that crystal had only been scratched, I would have salvaged it. But as you can see in the photo, there was a massive chunk missing.

[swaini3]

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing

[Verdi]

Congrats, it looks the part!

It is very satisfying when a project comes to fruition.
Im looking for one now and I finished my last one. Its an addiction!

[TimeLord2]

Thanks Dan, that’s what I want to do too! It really looks great.

[joli160]

The case work is amazing

[1675-David]

Really cool project Dan! Thanks for sharing it with us

[Paul7]

Originally Posted by rootbeer7

Beautiful. Proving polishing is not the devil’s work when done properly by experts.

True, not the same as Bubba the mall jeweler trying it. I would imagine a bracelet polish by someone like LAW or Rolliworks would look little different than a new factory finish.

Nice to know just about any damage/wear to a Rolex can be repaired.

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by Paul7

True, not the same as Bubba the mall jeweler trying it. I would imagine a bracelet polish by someone like LAW or Rolliworks would look little different than a new factory finish.

Nice to know just about any damage/wear to a Rolex can be repaired.

Michael at Rolliworks has an interesting approach with respect to the cosmetic part of bracelet restoration. He asks the client to tell him how much they would like the cosmetic finish restored on a 10-point scale, where 0 is no re-finishing and 10 is a factory finish.

This is in addition to the physical restoration of the bracelet, e.g. replacing and restoring parts as necessary to tighten the links and eliminate "stretch". IIRC, he mentioned to me that with respect to rivet bracelets, many clients don't want any refinishing at all, just the mechanical restoration.

[Paul7]

Originally Posted by Dan S

Michael at Rolliworks has an interesting approach with respect to the cosmetic part of bracelet restoration. He asks the client to tell him how much they would like the cosmetic finish restored on a 10-point scale, where 0 is no re-finishing and 10 is a factory finish.

This is in addition to the physical restoration of the bracelet, e.g. replacing and restoring parts as necessary to tighten the links and eliminate "stretch". IIRC, he mentioned to me that with respect to rivet bracelets, many clients don't want any refinishing at all, just the mechanical restoration.

I had them fix the stretch on a 1985 DJ, it came out great. No reason to send to Hong Kong.